The inside of Bear and Grill. Photo by Mabel Del Castillo/The Mirror.The weekend is a perfect time to relax from a stressful week, disengage from Barone, and explore other options. Bear and Grill, located at 2000 Black Rock Turnpike, is the ideal place to go and expect nothing but consistency in their food.

The restaurant is designed like a log cabin, so upon entering you feel you are in a whole new place. There is ample seating room on both ends of the hostess booth, which is awkwardly located in the middle of the restaurant, as well as a bar. The menu offers a huge assortment of lunch and dinner to satisfy everyone’s taste buds.

The environment is low-key, the lighting dim and the decoration woodsy following the camping theme. The wait-staff is small, but overall the service is adequate. During the spring and summer they also have outside dining, which is hard to find in town.

Upon sitting down, your water cups are filled and you are given a bread basket you will absolutely love (don’t be afraid to ask the busboy for one if he doesn’t bring it to you or you will regret it). It varies a bit every time since the bread is freshly baked every day. Last time I was there, my bread basket consisted of moist zucchini bread, delicious corn bread, and incredibly soft rolls. The bread itself left me wanting more.

For starters, I would recommend the North Woods Sampler. It consists of shrimp, chicken, and beef skewers marinated and grilled to perfection, served with honey mustard, horseradish sour cream, and cilantro lime aioli. Or try the Big Bears’ Awesome Appetizer, which combines its most popular appetizers: spinach dip and chips, potato skins and sour cream, fried calamari, fried mozzarella sticks, and chicken wings served with dipping sauces.

The food will knock you right off your feet making this one of my favorite restaurants in town. My absolute favorite thing on the menu is the grilled shrimp wrap. It consists of grilled shrimp brushed with a garlicky butter sauce and rolled with bacon, lettuce, tomato, herb mayo, and avocado, served on a herb tortilla.

The grilled shrimp wrap, served in an herb tortilla. Photo by Mabel Del Castillo/The Mirror.

If you are in the mood to try some very distinct sandwiches or wraps, they have a lobster roll, a blackened tuna club, a crab cake sandwich, a BBQ turkey wrap, and even a pressed prime rib dip baguette.

All their sandwiches are served with seasoned golden country sliced fries. You have the option to swap your fries for homemade cole slaw or mixed grilled vegetables at no charge. I love their fries, but their grilled vegetables definitely win my heart.

The salads are wonderful and very satisfying. For steak lovers, I would recommend the fire grilled steak salad. It consists of sliced NY strip, grilled Portobello mushrooms, roasted red peppers, diced tomatoes and blue cheese, served over fresh mixed greens and garnished with frizzled onions.

The Adirondack salad is also one of my favorites. It includes slices of fresh oranges, strawberries, and pears tossed with endive, arugula, radicchio, pecans & crumbled gorgonzola in balsamic vinaigrette. You also have the option of adding grilled chicken, shrimp, salmon, NY strip steak, and/or grilled ahi tuna.

Their dessert is delicious as well; one of my favorite ones resembles a s’mores, with a cookie base, ice cream, and roasted marshmallows on top.

Whether you want a soup, salad, burger (which are excellent), pasta, sandwich, pizza, steak, fish, ribs, pork chops, or scallops- this is the place to go. I guarantee everyone will leave in hopes of returning as soon as possible.

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